Typically coin laundries operate at peak capacity only on a few days and hours, such as weekend days and weekday evenings. Other businesses experience a wide variance of business at different times of the business day or week. Operators of coin laundry establishments, and others similarly situated, desire apparatus and methods to induce customers to patronize the establishment and its coin laundry equipment.
Offering prizes is a well known way of inducing business in any establishment. Operators of coin laundry establishments desire to use prize offerings but also desire to offer prizes only at off-peak hours.
Such operators also desire automatic, electronic means for awarding prizes so that prize awards can be made without requiring the attention of an attendant.
Prior patents relate to certain game methods for vending machines and other apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,987 (Powell) provides a plurality of timers each connected to one of a plurality of switching elements. Upon expiration of each timer, one of the switching elements is advanced. When the switching elements are aligned in a predetermined sequence, a prize or vending item is awarded. However, Powell does not disclose means for sensing external machine operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,178 (Stone et al.) provides a claim meter and "last load" circuitry for a coin-operated commercial laundry operation. After a predetermined number of cycles, the apparatus will halt operation of the cleaner and signal an operator that maintenance is needed. However, there is no correlation of the signal and the time of day for use of the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,639 discloses a single controller connected to multiple laundry machines. The device enables a single coin acceptor to control a plurality of washing machines selected using push buttons.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,231 provides a controlled chemical injecting system for a plurality of washing machines. The apparatus includes a circuit for inhibiting a fluid injection signal if a machine is already in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,049 (Houserman) provides circuitry for detecting whether a vending system has completed an operation. The apparatus includes a detector circuit with a monitor connected to all the vending machine motors, to respond to the motors when a movement cycle is complete. The apparatus is not coupled to a time of day detector. Thus, the prior art fails to show an apparatus for awarding a prize to a user of a machine in which the odds of winning the prize increase during off-peak hours when fewer machines are in operation.